BRIEF: Late Franco-German Bid To Put Russia On Summit Agenda

A bid by France and Germany to put the idea of a 'Biden-style' summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin on the agenda of the June 24-25 EU summit has run into resistance from other EU member states. Berlin and Paris are reported to be pushing for "new formats" for future EU-Russia dialogue. Referring to the recent US-Russia summit in Geneva, one EU diplomat told MNI there were "elements in there we could have a look at."

But against a backdrop of ongoing EU sanctions against the country, the diplomat said the idea of an EU-Putin summit might be a bridge too far and the "idea of a high-level meeting with the Russia leader is still something we're struggling with."

Hungary's recent anti-LGBQT legislation also looks set to provoke controversy and absorb a lot of the leaders' attention at the summit, following today's Commission statement on the issue.